Under siege Chelsea retained a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League after drawing 1-1 with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Loic Remy, replacing the suspended Diego Costa, struck four minutes before the break, but David Silva deflected in Sergio Aguero’s shot moments later to bring City level.
In the second half both teams cancelled each other out, as they both seemingly settled for not losing. The only real excitement in the second half was the appearance of Chelsea’s record goalscorer Frank Lampard, who came on for City with 14 minutes remaining to applause and the odd dissenting voice.
Elsewhere, Manchester United are up to third after Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao scored in 3-1 win over Leicester City at Old Trafford.
Van Persie opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark with a superb strike and the Dutchman was involved in the build-up to the second that was finished by Falcao. Wes Morgan contributed an own goal before Marcin Wasilewski nodded in a consolation effort to complete a defeat that left the Foxes rooted to the foot of the table.
Harry Kane starred as Tottenham posted a 3-0 victory at West Brom that kept Mauricio Pochettino’s side in the hunt for a Champions League place and moved them above Arsenal in the table. Christian Eriksen and Kane scored goals inside the opening 15 minutes and, when the outstanding Kane added his second from the penalty spot, the result had been placed beyond doubt.
Liverpool are snapping at Tottenham’s heels in seventh after Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge fired them to a 2-0 triumph over West Ham at Anfield. Sterling combined with Philippe Coutinho in a fantastic build-up that the England forward finished with aplomb, before Sturridge added the second on his comeback game after five months out through injury.
The recent progress made by Crystal Palace ground to a halt as Romelu Lukaku’s goal earned Everton to a 1-0 victory at Selhurst Park for their first win in nine games in all competitions.
